When 5 inches of snow is a big deal...

Since we arrived in Nashville, the weather stations have been talking about the snow and cold that would be arriving on Sunday night into Monday morning.  They have been using the words frigid and extreme cold and there are signs posted every where to help people prepare for cold weather.  On Sunday, it was in the mid-20s for high temperatures (which was a 20 degree drop from Saturday), but it still felt pretty good out.

I decided to take the 2 mile walk to Trader Joe's to pick up a few salad ingredients and some staples.  The walk was great as there is a paved walking trail (Richland Greenway) close by that goes around a golf course and the off shoot of the trail leads to the shopping center where the Trader Joe's is located.  I enjoyed the walk on the well-used trail, but when walked into the Trader Joe's, I found a crazy mob of people packing their carts full of food.  The lines went all the way down the aisle and it was hard to shop.  I debated leaving as the lines were so long, but I had already walked 2 miles and I decided to stay.  I quickly picked out the few items I needed and got into one of the very long lines.  

Notice, Thom shoveled the walk with a little plastic shovel

Sledding at the golf course

Snow covered cars and roads in the neighborhood

Kids walking with their sleds to a sledding hill

On Monday, morning we woke to 5 inches of snow.  I waited until the afternoon to take a walk and these are a few of the observations about Nashville in snowy, cold weather:

• You don't have to worry about being plowed in if you park on the neighborhood street, because they don't seem to plow the streets.  I do believe the primary streets and highways have been treated and plowed.  We haven't been out yet, so I could be wrong.
• They are not use to having high temperatures below freezing (the last time was in December 2022).  Temperatures are below freezing at night, but they rarely have a hard freeze and temps are above freezing during the day.  Hence the pansies and ornamental kale that I saw on Saturday,
• Schools in Nashville announced on Monday that they would be closed through Wednesday.  I think it is both the 5 inches of snow and the extreme cold (highs in the teens with a wind chill).  Isn't that shorts weather in Wisconsin?
• People don't seem to have snow shovels or scrappers for the car.  Our hosts here do not have a shovel and I actually saw a man trying to scrap the windows on his truck with a plastic sled.  Many cars that were parked on the street on Monday were still snow covered and had not moved.
• For a place that does not often get snow, I saw a lot of sleds while I was taking my walk.  Every little hill in the neighborhood had sledders (especially the hills at the golf course).  One neighborhood street had detour signs posted so that kids could sled down the road.
• People drive really slow and there were very few cars driving through the neighborhood.  I didn't really worry about having to walk on the road as I walked through the neighborhood in the snow.
• I, unfortunately, do not have my furr-lined, waterproof walking boots.  They are back home in Wisconsin.  But I did bring my Yak Traks.  My walking shoes and wool socks with the Yak Traks worked well.
• They spend a lot of time on the news giving out cold weather safety tips, as people are just are not used to cold weather.

We plan to venture out in the car later today, so more to come on cold and snow in Nashville.  BTW -- It is only 13 degrees at 11:30 am today and there is a bit of a wind chill.  This is way colder than they are used to.